Business briefs

Published: Friday, July 11, 2008

More money spent in June; outlook still tough

NEW YORK - Shoppers, enticed by heavy discounts and armed with rebate checks, spent more freely in June, helping to lift many retailers' sales. The outlook for the back-to-school season remains tough, though, as consumers confront high gas and food prices, a slumping housing and tighter credit.

As the nation's retailers reported June sales figures on Thursday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. reported better-than-expected figures as consumers limited purchases mainly to groceries and other necessities.

The reports showed that some rebate money made its way to some apparel stores, like women's apparel store Cato Corp., though generally sales at mall-based apparel stores, including Limited Brands Inc. and Wet Seal Inc., remained sluggish.

Dow Chemical to buy rival for more than $15 billion

DETROIT - Dow Chemical Co. has agreed to buy rival Rohm and Haas Co. for more than $15 billion in cash in a deal that Dow hopes will fuel its growth in a more lucrative wing of the chemical-making business.

The $78 per-share deal includes money from a Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. The price represents a 74 percent premium to Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas' closing share price of $44.83 on Wednesday.

GM chief dismisses bankruptcy speculation

DALLAS - The chief executive of General Motors Corp. dismissed speculation that the largest U.S. automaker might soon seek bankruptcy protection.

Comments in the past week about a potential bankruptcy are "not at all constructive or accurate," Rick Wagoner said Thursday.

"Under any scenario we can imagine ... our cash position will remain robust through this year" and the company has options for raising cash beyond that, Wagoner said at a lunch meeting of Dallas business leaders.